Falcons Continue to Rise at MAC Cross Country Championships

Saturday, October 29

Kent, Ohio

11:00 AM

Bowling Green State University

MAC Championships

Photo by: David Meel

October 29, 2016 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

By: by Matthew Daley, Athletic Communicationis Assistant

FINAL RESULTS

PHOTO GALLERIES: MEN | WOMEN (David Meel)

KENT, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University cross country teams found team and individual success at the 2016 Mid-American Conference Championships, held at the Kent State University Golf Course in Kent, Ohio on Saturday, Oct. 29. Both programs, who have progressed in every year under head coach Lou Snelling, combined for three All-MAC selections, the best team finish by the men's squad in 21 years, and the first women's individual runner-up finish in 17 years.

The women's 8,000-meter race went first, and redshirt sophomore immediately put herself among the leaders. She was in sixth place after the first mile and had moved to second at the 2.5 mile mark. She completed the 6K distance in 20:48.0 for second place, just 13.9 seconds behind Eastern Michigan's Jordann McDermitt.

"THe girls really stepped up today, I'm beyond proud of them. As a whole, we ran a savvy race with very mature decisions throughout. Rachel Walny proved again that she's one of the best in the MAC. Becca Schott garnered her first All-MAC performance because of years of focus and hard word. It was very rewarding to see her do that," said BGSU cross country head coach Lou Snelling. "Cassie Boyle has an impressive first MAC Championship experience, just missing All-MAC and Freshman of the Year honors. I love the consistence we are starting to have as a program. Thisis the first time since '95-'98 we've put together three top four performances in a row at the MAC Championships."

Walny is the first BGSU individual runner to earn runner-up status since Hanane Sabri in 1999. She is the also the first to earn All-MAC status in back-to-back years since Jamie Roflow in 2005 and 2006. The MAC began splitting the All-MAC squad into first and second teams in 2005, and Walny is the only Falcon athlete to earn first-team All-MAC honors since 2005.

This is Walny's third-best 6K time during her two year career and represents an 18-second improvement over her time at the 2015 MAC Championships.

Redshirt junior Rebecca Schott set a personal record by crossing the finish in 21:42.8 for 11th place. That is a 20-place and 28-second improvement over 2015 for Schott, who was named second-team All-MAC. Schott and Walny give BGSU multiple All-MAC selections for the second straight year. The Falcons had not done that since 1997-98.

Redshirt freshman Cassandra Boyle had a fantastic run in her first MAC meet. She earned 17th place with a time of 21:56.8. That's just one second shy of a personal record (21:55.3) and was only six seconds shy of All-MAC territory.

Elena Lancioni finished her third MAC Championships in 32nd place (22:22.6), while redshirt junior Rachel Durbin earned a time of 23:06.5. Freshman Kelsie Mothersead (24:08.2) was ten seconds shy of her personal record for a 6K.

Overall, the women's team placed third with 116 points. The Falcons placed second in 2015 and fourth in 2014, and they now have their longest streak of top-four finishes since four in a row from 1995-98. Nationally-ranked Eastern Michigan captured the MAC Championship with 27 points, including three of the top four finishers and the individual champion.

The men's 8,000-meter race followed at noon, and junior Kohl Taberner produced the best result of his career. Taberner placed ninth overall with a personal-record time of 25:44.9. Last season, he finished 29th in 25:45.6. His result is the best for BGSU at the MACs since Jason Salyer placed sixth in 2013, and those two are the Falcons' first top-ten individuals since 1995. Taberner was honored as second-team All-MAC.

"Today went well for the men. They took care of business and ran strong as a whole," said assistant men's head coach Chuck Wentz. "It takes five-plus guys to do what we did. Kohl (Taberner) earning All-MAC honors was icing on the cake. He came through and led the charge."
Three other Falcons placed in the top 25. Sophomore Noah Schaub took 18th place and crossed the finish in 26:01.2, in a significant improvement over 2015 (63rd; 26:44.75). Fellow sophomore Jonathan Wenning completed his run immediately behind Schaub in 26:01.9 for 19th place. Tyler Phillips placed 24th in his first MAC Championships (26:11.4).

In addition, Nicholas Voth (26:35.1), Kyle Repetto (26:54.7), Jacob Schenten (27:21.2) and Paul Garbarino (28:12.2) all competed for the Falcons. Voth and Repetto each placed in the top 50.

The men's team took fifth place with 107 points. It is the Falcons' best run as a team at the MAC Championships since winning the event with 57 points in 1995. Eastern Michigan captured the 2016 MAC title with 15 points; Eagles' runners finished first through fifth in the event to set a new MAC record.

Bowling Green's next action will be at the 2016 NCAA Great Lakes Regional, which will be held in Madison, Wisc. on Friday, Nov. 11. The NCAA Championship meet will be in Terra Haute, Ind. on Saturday, Nov. 19.

ALL-MAC TEAM (Men)
FIRST TEAM
Nicholas Raymond, EMU
Hlynur Andresson, EMU
Csaba Matko, EMU
Abel Flores, EMU
Lahsene Bouchikhi, EMU
Garrett Crichlow, Akron
Barrett Kemp, Buffalo

SECOND TEAM
Alex Wind, Ohio
Kohl Taberner, BGSU
Matthew Bromley, Miami
Andrew Dusing, Miami
Michael McKean, Ohio
Jake Brumfield, Miami
David Coffey, Miami

ALL-MAC TEAM (Women)
FIRST TEAM
Jordann McDermitt, EMU
Rachel Walny, BGSU
Alsu Bogdanova, EMU
Natalie Cizmas, EMU
Maria Scavuzzo, Miami
Hope Schmelzle, NIU
Sydney Meyers, EMU

SECOND TEAM
Kelsey Hildreth, NIU
Megan O'Neil, CMU
Kelly Schubert, CMU
Rebecca Schott, BGSU
Sofie Gallein, EMU
Stephanie Ward, Buffalo
Anna Aldrich, EMU

MAC FRESHMEN OF THE YEAR
(Men)
David Coffey, Miami
(Women)
Stephanie Ward, Buffalo

MAC COACHES OF THE YEAR
(Men)
John Goodridge, EMU
(Women)
Sue Parks, EMU